Jealous of your dad's eyes...I am beginning to have issues with iron sights...
Great update!
Great update!
Foodplotting In The Mountains...The Sequel
- Thread starter dogghr
- Start date
dogghr
Well-Known Member
I do indeed since all my deer migrate each fall to your farm for your Amazon thick chicory.You dad still has the eye for the bullseye. Looks like he was having lots of fun.
Beautiful pics as always. Looks to me like you need just a little more chicory...
dogghr
Well-Known Member
Yep iron sights and worse yet, several of my rifles have peep sight. Not much use for that anymore, just a fuzzy blur.
dogghr
Well-Known Member
I'm on a prehunt vacation jst staring into the eyes of my loved one not even thinking of whether it is raining on my new brassica planting. Yea whatever.
Spread seed one week ago and mowed thatch over it. Ckd before I left vacation this past Sat. Good results.
Also made a half dozen mock scrapes. Bend limb down to 5 ft, scrape dirt w boot in 4 ft circle beneath and then piss in dirt. Deer do the rest. Usuall do them 50 yes apart along a line. Didn't do as many as planned since forgot water to drink and I ran out of pee.
Stand is behindforked tree.
You can see if you look close brassica sprouts. One wk after planting. No tillage whatever.
This clover been sprayed w gly 3 wks ago. Still going strong but everything else is dead.
Not much talk of edge feathering foodplots on here anymore but this is what you can accomplish. Was open fescue jst few years ago. Thick mess of a variety. And look at the browse. Hard to beat especially if weather doesn't cooperate with your plots.
And can't leave out my natural Buffalo plot. Look close the brassica is growing here too amongst the naturally occurring clovers. Enjoy your day, as I must get back to staring into my loved ones eyes. And looking at a big ass 10 pt I have on camera with a history. More on that later. Peace
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Spread seed one week ago and mowed thatch over it. Ckd before I left vacation this past Sat. Good results.
Also made a half dozen mock scrapes. Bend limb down to 5 ft, scrape dirt w boot in 4 ft circle beneath and then piss in dirt. Deer do the rest. Usuall do them 50 yes apart along a line. Didn't do as many as planned since forgot water to drink and I ran out of pee.
Stand is behindforked tree.
You can see if you look close brassica sprouts. One wk after planting. No tillage whatever.
This clover been sprayed w gly 3 wks ago. Still going strong but everything else is dead.
Not much talk of edge feathering foodplots on here anymore but this is what you can accomplish. Was open fescue jst few years ago. Thick mess of a variety. And look at the browse. Hard to beat especially if weather doesn't cooperate with your plots.
And can't leave out my natural Buffalo plot. Look close the brassica is growing here too amongst the naturally occurring clovers. Enjoy your day, as I must get back to staring into my loved ones eyes. And looking at a big ass 10 pt I have on camera with a history. More on that later. Peace
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buckhunter10
Well-Known Member
Ok show us the buck!! Hahha great pics as always.
Merle Hawggard
Well-Known Member
Awesome again! I need to do some edge feathering too. So much to do so little time lol!
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George
Well-Known Member
dogghr
Well-Known Member
Planted another clover alfalfa chicory field this weekend. Spread oats rye RC WC 19-19-19 fert. Then Sprayed w gly ams cleth and mowed next day.
The other plot I sprayed and thennplanted the next day. You can see green but that will be dead mulch by end of week. Sure saves time and sweat and money. Hate to spray clover but their were weeds and grasses that had to go. Besides the clover will bounce back. Only way to kill it is to use heavy dose of crop oil. Now that will toast it.
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The other plot I sprayed and thennplanted the next day. You can see green but that will be dead mulch by end of week. Sure saves time and sweat and money. Hate to spray clover but their were weeds and grasses that had to go. Besides the clover will bounce back. Only way to kill it is to use heavy dose of crop oil. Now that will toast it.
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dogghr
Well-Known Member
Ahead of schedule, plots are all done in hope for some rain. Been showers for last month but things are pretty dry, but cool. Haven't had a 90 deg day now since 2012 officially. Stayed below norms entire month of Aug. Good news, clover loves that cool weather. Planted this no till broadcast over spent brassica 2 years ago. No tx but Cleth and mowing. All my plots have been T&M for last 3 years I think. Last year was rough with drought, this year much kinder. If you can plant one type crop, do a grain, clover and chicory. Can't go wrong, grows almost anywhere in a variety of soil conditions, and feeds wildlife nearly year round. And did I say cheap and easy? No equipment needed. I overseed perenials each fall with WR and let go to maturity for weed and N control.
You know I likes the Shrooms because they are Funguys/fungi. Sorry. I hope you took the time to notice yours. They help your mighty oak grow in their own small seemingly insignificant way. Life is a circle.
Another pic of affect of edge feathering . You want your hard edge of forest to transition to a softer growth as it meets the foodplot. 10-20 yds is sufficient. Not that difficult to achieve, just cut down or hack and squirt trees to open canopy allowing undergrowth. Deer will feel much more comfortable entering or wind checking a field. Oh, did I say cheap and easy again? You don't need big expensive equipment to get the deer to like you.
Even this young bear is interested in a scrape I made 2days earlier. Zip tied branch so hanging down, scraped the earth, and peed. Have had everything from fawn to doe to buck within 24 hours.
Surprise to see this boy this year. Last year two of the bucks I had marked to shoot was this guy and a 10 pointer. The same week late Oct, the 10 pt broke off his entire left rack, and his guy had a severe gash across his rt knee and a broken leg. He could barely walk and I wondered if he would survive. I even caught him on video still fighting another buck with the mangle leg. Then He dissappeared early Nov. Assuming he was dead, he has returned, still hobbled by that leg, but looks healthy. He gets a pass this year just because of his toughness.
Get those bows tweaked. Time is coming. We have a bear season opening next week, and deer not far behind. Peace.
"And while I stood there
I saw more than I could tell,
and I understood more than I saw,
for I was seeing in a sacred manner
the shape of things in the spirit,
and the shape of all shapes as they must
live together as one being."----Black Elk
You know I likes the Shrooms because they are Funguys/fungi. Sorry. I hope you took the time to notice yours. They help your mighty oak grow in their own small seemingly insignificant way. Life is a circle.
Another pic of affect of edge feathering . You want your hard edge of forest to transition to a softer growth as it meets the foodplot. 10-20 yds is sufficient. Not that difficult to achieve, just cut down or hack and squirt trees to open canopy allowing undergrowth. Deer will feel much more comfortable entering or wind checking a field. Oh, did I say cheap and easy again? You don't need big expensive equipment to get the deer to like you.
Even this young bear is interested in a scrape I made 2days earlier. Zip tied branch so hanging down, scraped the earth, and peed. Have had everything from fawn to doe to buck within 24 hours.
Surprise to see this boy this year. Last year two of the bucks I had marked to shoot was this guy and a 10 pointer. The same week late Oct, the 10 pt broke off his entire left rack, and his guy had a severe gash across his rt knee and a broken leg. He could barely walk and I wondered if he would survive. I even caught him on video still fighting another buck with the mangle leg. Then He dissappeared early Nov. Assuming he was dead, he has returned, still hobbled by that leg, but looks healthy. He gets a pass this year just because of his toughness.
Get those bows tweaked. Time is coming. We have a bear season opening next week, and deer not far behind. Peace.
"And while I stood there
I saw more than I could tell,
and I understood more than I saw,
for I was seeing in a sacred manner
the shape of things in the spirit,
and the shape of all shapes as they must
live together as one being."----Black Elk
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
Good of you to give that boy a pass after all he has been through. He has the true mountain survival genes!!
You got those plots planted just in time. I'm sending you some left over rain tonight. We had a nice slow soaking one all day.
You got those plots planted just in time. I'm sending you some left over rain tonight. We had a nice slow soaking one all day.
dogghr
Well-Known Member
Missed the soaker but got some showers. Not gonna complain as poor souls in TX got more rain yesterday than we had all last year.
That first pic that thing exploded from nothing overnight. Had 3 of them on edge of field. Pretty cool. I think at least unless they are taking over the world.
Two reasons. First, for alfalfa my soil test recommend 1#/ac Boron. Easy way for that is two 4# boxes of borax from Dollar General. I just added it to my 19-19-19 fert and spread with it. It is not real accurate I suppose but seems to do the job.
Second, when I researched adding Boron, its been shown to help brassica and even clovers. In addition it is tx for Creeping Charlie which I deal with in the lower plot I was planting back into a perennial. So anymore, I just add the cheap stuff if I am spreading any fert. You can also buy fert with Boron in it which I have done and it is 10-20-20-.5. But I dont like to add additional N after planting legumes.
dogghr
Well-Known Member
Four weeks after planting brassica and 1 wk after clover combo updates.
A little problem with my Silkys as deer have browsed some of them. No way will I take time to cage that many. They better step up to the plate and survive. Three feet of growth on most of them since planting this spring.
Another shot of edge feathering along an access road. Far end of this point is Ramdom Cluster #1 which became a great doe bedding area after working.
Clover alfalfa chicory weed mix plot. This was expanded to twice its size last week with a T&M of same mixture plus WR and oats and AWP as cover.
Brassica coming along on this ridge top plot. Lower plot doing a little more even, but it will catch up. Hit them with a little Urea today with rain tomorrow. You can't expect all the seed evenly sprouting and evenly growing in a no till method. Patience, and it will fill in. And you don't want brassica too thick. Thin is better to allow for good softball tubor growth. Also sprayed Cleth to kill grasses in this and the perenial plots.
You didn't believe me when I said in Post 490 that all that pic would be brown with my gly spray but clovers would survive did you?? I sprayed Gly/ Cleth/AMS after spreading fert and seed, then mowed. Planted mix of WR,WW, oats, AWP, RC and WC in this plot. You want to kill clover, just add good dose of crop oil to mix. I found that out by accident. And keep that in mind if you are doing a spring grass/weed kill in clover you don't want to die. Oh it will come back, just takes a while.
Pull back the thatch, and these little guys are coming along a week after planting.
You have your ragweed, your goldenrod, your dandeline, your thistle,etc. But who came up with the name of Queen Annes Lace? Pretty cool stuff, big bee attractant, and recommended by some as a nurse crop for tomato and lettuce, while deemed a noxious weed by others. Pretty prevalent here and able to live in seed bank for 5 years, so doubt its going anywhere.
Count them. How many varieties of plants in just this one pic. Do you see the berries? Can you pic out deer loving plants? Do the cattails serve a purpose? Is this creek bottom filtering the water so it flows cleaner as it enters the creek, the river, the ocean? Do your plots do more than feed a few deer? Have you ever counted the number of varieties of plants in a 5' x 5' section of your food plot? Is it a variety of plants each perhaps providing some offering to your plants, your soil, your wildlife? Try it. Maintain as much variety as you can cram into your land. Look close, don't trample over. Listen. Be still. Be quite. Have a good week. Peace.
.
A little problem with my Silkys as deer have browsed some of them. No way will I take time to cage that many. They better step up to the plate and survive. Three feet of growth on most of them since planting this spring.
Another shot of edge feathering along an access road. Far end of this point is Ramdom Cluster #1 which became a great doe bedding area after working.
Clover alfalfa chicory weed mix plot. This was expanded to twice its size last week with a T&M of same mixture plus WR and oats and AWP as cover.
Brassica coming along on this ridge top plot. Lower plot doing a little more even, but it will catch up. Hit them with a little Urea today with rain tomorrow. You can't expect all the seed evenly sprouting and evenly growing in a no till method. Patience, and it will fill in. And you don't want brassica too thick. Thin is better to allow for good softball tubor growth. Also sprayed Cleth to kill grasses in this and the perenial plots.
You didn't believe me when I said in Post 490 that all that pic would be brown with my gly spray but clovers would survive did you?? I sprayed Gly/ Cleth/AMS after spreading fert and seed, then mowed. Planted mix of WR,WW, oats, AWP, RC and WC in this plot. You want to kill clover, just add good dose of crop oil to mix. I found that out by accident. And keep that in mind if you are doing a spring grass/weed kill in clover you don't want to die. Oh it will come back, just takes a while.
Pull back the thatch, and these little guys are coming along a week after planting.
You have your ragweed, your goldenrod, your dandeline, your thistle,etc. But who came up with the name of Queen Annes Lace? Pretty cool stuff, big bee attractant, and recommended by some as a nurse crop for tomato and lettuce, while deemed a noxious weed by others. Pretty prevalent here and able to live in seed bank for 5 years, so doubt its going anywhere.
Count them. How many varieties of plants in just this one pic. Do you see the berries? Can you pic out deer loving plants? Do the cattails serve a purpose? Is this creek bottom filtering the water so it flows cleaner as it enters the creek, the river, the ocean? Do your plots do more than feed a few deer? Have you ever counted the number of varieties of plants in a 5' x 5' section of your food plot? Is it a variety of plants each perhaps providing some offering to your plants, your soil, your wildlife? Try it. Maintain as much variety as you can cram into your land. Look close, don't trample over. Listen. Be still. Be quite. Have a good week. Peace.
.
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
I love that hillside plot and the weedy valley. Looks like a place a mountain man could find some solace in this crazy world. I admire your love for nature and your understanding of how things ought to be.........
